


I only paint in the color Yellow

by Lomerith



Category: Undertale, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Romance, Syretchup, TheaterAU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 12:20:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7934401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lomerith/pseuds/Lomerith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans is a freelance painter who enjoys lazing around and slowly working on projects. His brother Papyrus wants him to do bigger and better then what he is doing now. When an opportunity comes along that could launch Sans' career forward he volunteers his brother for it. When they arrive he meets a rather silent actor who keeps looking at him but refuses to make eye contact.</p><p>This fiction takes place in an AU where monsters were never sealed underground and co-exist with humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I only paint in the color Yellow

**Author's Note:**

> Gaster!Sans is know as Yellow for this fiction.  
> Papyrus and Sans keep their names.
> 
> This idea was supposed to stay a single chapter...but that seems to have failed.

Delicate brushstrokes added blue to the already colorful canvas. Reaching for another brush he dipped it in yellow next. Adding that carefully to the canvas as well he took a moment to study his work. It didn’t look anywhere near what he had seen earlier today. That rainbow had been magnificent and it all blended perfectly. Sans let out a sigh as he started to clean his brushes off. Maybe he’d try painting this again after a nap or two. As he finished a voice called from the kitchen, “Sans! Lunch is ready!” He stood up from the floor and gave the painting one last look. It definitely looked incomplete. His stomach growled at him to get lunch. He’d come back to this later. Leaving his room he passed through the living room and into the kitchen. Papyrus greeted him warmly “I made your favorite. Garlic pasta with feta and ketchup.” Sans smiled and climbed into his seat. His brother had gotten a lot better at cooking over the years. Only when he tried unique and complex recipes did it turn out inedible. He did have a bad habit of putting odd ingredients into his dishes though. Papyrus sat two plates on the table. But instead of eating right away like he usually did, he was waiting for him to take the first bite.

Sans asked growing concerned, “You didn’t put anything weird in the food this time right?” His brother didn’t answer and only smiled back at him. He stared at the plate debating if he should actually try it. Eventually his hunger won out as he picked up the fork and spun the noodles around it. Cringing he put it in his mouth. Everything tasted normal, in fact it was pretty tasty. He ate another forkful before he found out what Papyrus had put into the dish. His blue ecto-tongue started to burn. Followed quickly by his entire skull. Sticking his tongue out he tried to stand up. But he couldn’t even keep his balance as he fell to the floor.

Papyrus now frantic ran to his brother. “Sans! Are you okay?” His brother didn’t reply. Trying a new recipe on him may not have been the best idea. He bolted to the kitchen and poured a glass of milk. By the time he had gotten back his brother’s skull was completely flushed red. Holding the glass out to him Sans took it and immediately drank it down. It took a few moments but eventually Sans’ skull turned back to it’s normal color.

His tongue still felt half numb as he spoke “Bro, while I appreciate you making food for me. Warn me if you haven’t made a recipe before. You would get awfully bonely if one of those recipes did me in.” Papyrus let out a groan and was about to say something when his cellphone started to ring. He retrieved it from his shirt pocket, a grin formed on his face once he saw who it was. Quickly he accepted the call and turned on the speakerphone option.

“Papyrus! THE MOST HORRIBLE THING JUST HAPPENED!” A familiar voice echoed from the phone.

“Is everything alright Mettaton?” Papyrus asked slightly concerned.

Mettaton huffed loudly before continuing, “We’re only a week away from opening night and our backdrop designer up and quit! I don’t know why those two couldn't just get along.” Sans knew exactly what was going to come next. Papyrus was always the one to help people out with their problems. Little or big he did his best to fix them and wouldn’t stop trying until you stopped him. What Papyrus offered next truly caught him off guard.

A grin almost completely encompassed Papyrus’ face, “I know just the monster who can finish those backdrops. Sans has been looking for a way to kickstart his art career. This may finally motivate him!” While he appreciated his brothers gesture he was doing fine on his own. He didn’t get much (any) business outside of randomly selling a painting or two. But he enjoyed being able to laze back and complete work slowly.

“Hey Papyrus, can we talk about this some more before you just offer me up?” Sans said softly hoping the phone wouldn’t pick him up. It was already too late for him to argue. Papyrus stared him down with an intense gaze, which basically translated to ‘do this or you won’t see any ketchup for the next week’. He let out a sigh and let Papyrus continue the call.

Papyrus took back his brothers remark. “Sans said he’d love to help you out. We’ll be by in a bit. Same theater as usual?”

Mettaton seemed overjoyed upon hearing this “Of course the usual theater! Thanks sooooo much by the way Sans! There’s only a couple backdrops left. Just come by….” 

He was drowned out as someone unfamiliar yelled in the background. “Why are you still here? Your art fucking sucks, take your lousy backdrops and leave!”

Another voice answered back, “I couldn’t paint an ego large enough to suit you! You don’t know everything! Go fuck yourself!” Multiple loud crashes follow.

Mettaton’s voice got louder “Sorry looks like I gotta go break these two up again. See you soon!!” The phone hangs up suddenly as Papyrus put it back in his shirt pocket.

“I’ll drive you there. The sooner you get started the sooner you can finish.” Papyrus retrieved his keys from their usual spot. He waved to his brother before heading outside.

Sans let out a sigh as he walked to his room to retrieve his supplies. Packing them all into a large duffel bag he flung the strap over his shoulder. Meeting Papyrus halfway down the stairs, the two of them walked to his car. It was a flashy red convertible that he loved maybe too much. They hopped into the car as Papyrus wasted no time driving him into the city. He enjoyed riding in the car with Papyrus. Sans liked to look at all the buildings they drove by and made a remark as they passed by Grillby’s. It only took them ten minutes to arrive at the theater Mettaton built from the ground up. A flashy purple and pink sign read ‘MTT Daz Appeal Theater.’ Sans got out of the car as Papyrus tried to follow him in. 

“I’ll be fine Papyrus. I’m sure Mettaton will be in there. You can just pick me up in a couple of hours okay?” He loved his brother but the last time he wanted to help him with work it resulted in four broken canvases and the death of a lamp. Papyrus twiddled his thumbs before he got back into the car.

Papyrus nervously said “Alright but make sure you don’t stand under any stage lights. Or slip on paint. Or fall down any stairs. Or….”

Sans stopped his brother, “I promise I’ll be careful. See you soon.” His brother gave him one last glance before driving away. Finally free of his brother he let out a long sigh. He headed inside and was easily able to find his way to the stage room. Opening a rather large and heavy door he was greeted by Mettaton.

“Heya Sansy! How was the drive?” Mettaton wasn’t the only one in the room. Two other monsters looked up from their work as he entered the room. One sat at a piano near the back of the room. They had a robotic body similar to Mettaton’s, with a mainly teal and silver color scheme. The second monster was a skeleton. He looked back to the script in his hand when Sans glanced at him.

“It was just a normal drive nothing special. Paps will be by later to pick me up.” 

Mettaton seemed nervous about something, “Me and Napsta were just about to leave. So you’ll be alone with...Yellow while you work. He’s not a bad guy just, really blunt don’t take what he says seriously.”

Sans shrugged, “I doubt he’ll be able to get under my skin. If you guys need to do something don’t let me hold you back.”

“Alright but call me if he gives you trouble.” Mettaton handed him a paint covered piece of paper. “We’re only got three backdrops that still need to be done. Two of our blank backdrops suffered an...accident. So the only one we have for you to start on is sitting up on stage.”

He grew curious, “Wait, so what happened to the blank backdrops?”

Mettaton refused to answer his question “Let’s get going Blooky~.” The other robot rose from his seat as Mettaton headed out the door. Napstablook gave him a timid wave goodbye before they both left. Sans looked at the messy list in his hand. All but three lines had been scribbled over. 

Castle with a gate  
Sunset  
A forest

Those were rather open ideas with no structure. He was hoping for better detail, like what sort of trees Mettaton wanted. This was going to take longer than expected. Stuffing the paper into his bag, he walked towards the blank backdrop. Yellow glanced towards him when he got close. But his gaze quickly returned to the script again. Sans didn’t pay him any mind and kept walking. Reaching the backdrop he started unpacking his supplies. Taking his favorite sketching pencil from the bag, he started to work on the forest.

A couple of hours pass by and he had finally finished the sketch. Letting out a contained sigh, he backed away. Sans checked his lines over one more time looking for any errors. Everything looked good so far. He retrieved some vials of paint from his pile of stuff. Shaking them a bit he popped one open and grabbed a brush. Testing the colors on one tree it only took him a moment to notice how none of it looked right. Taking another step back he grew confused as his back met with someone.

“Your choice in colors really suck. Those browns and greens don’t belong on birch trees.” The voice came from whoever was behind him. Sans backed away quickly and turned around to see Yellow standing there. He hadn’t even heard him walk up, how long had he been standing there watching? “Still better than the last guys color choices.” Sans didn’t feel like arguing with him. His color choices had been terrible but he could still salvage this. Walking to the pile of stuff still on the floor he lifted his sketchbook from it. Sitting on the floor he started to flip through the pages. After a couple of pages he noticed that Yellow had bent down to look at them as well. Sans slowly turned the next pages and watch Yellow study each page. His eyes seemed to be scanning over each mini painting curiously. A slight puzzled expression formed on Yellow’s face. Sans had forgotten to turn the next page. He had been completely mesmerized watching him. Before he could to turn the page Yellow looked up from the sketchbook. Their eyes met as they both looked at each others faces. Sans was close enough to see every detail of Yellow’s face. From the scars that ran down his skull to the deep yellow hue of his glowing eyes. He could feel the surface of his skull heating up. Neither of them broke the gaze. A slight grin formed on Yellow’s face along with a very faint yellow glow on his cheekbones.

Suddenly the stage door slammed open as a loud voice yelled “Sans! I’m here to pick you up!” Both of them hastily stood up and increased the distance between each other. Neither of them could hide the colors on their faces though. Papyrus started walking towards him. He hid his face behind the sketchbook. His eyes then wandered to Yellow who had turned himself around, an obvious yellow glow still showed on his face. Sans could feel his brother's gaze pass over both of them. Taking a few deep breaths he calmed himself down enough to reply.

“I’m all done for today I can finish the rest tomorrow. Let’s go head home.” He started packing his bag as Yellow left the room without warning. Internally he beat himself up wishing he had said goodbye. It only took him a few moments to repack everything. Papyrus was impatiently waiting by the door for him. The two of them headed outside as awkward silence hung in the air. As they pushed the door to the outside open, he was surprised to see someone leaning against Papyrus’ car. It seemed like Yellow had been waiting outside for them. Once they got closer he walked towards them and placed a scrap of paper into Sans’ hand. A number had been hastily scribbled on it.

“If you’ve ever got some free time give me a call.” Before Sans could even think of how to reply. Yellow had started to walk away, heading towards a lone motorcycle.

Trying to form a response his words came out a bit stuttered. “I-I’ll call you t-tomorrow then.” He watched as Yellow sat on his motorcycle a slight grin now on his face. They watched him put on his helmet and within the next moment his motorcycle revved to life. Pushing the kickstand up he drove off down the road, deeper into the city.

His brother’s voice pulled him back to reality, “So who’s your new friend?” 

Sans tried to offer back a neutral sounding reply. “Just an actor in Mettaton’s play. We were just talking over some artsy stuff.” He tried to push the topic away hoping Papyrus would leave it be. 

“That’s not what it looked like to me. I’m not naive brother, when I came into the room you two were blushing brighter than the stage lights.” Papyrus’ voice held a playful tone. “You two were quite cute.” His brother was trying to provoke a reaction out of him and it was working. Sans’ mind drifted to the memory of Yellow and his sketchbook. He could feel his skull heat up. 

“I was right! I knew it! Don’t worry I’ll get you home and we can work on getting you ready for your future date!” Papyrus triumphantly marched to his car.

It took Sans a moment to fully understand what his brother had said. “Wait, wait, wait It’s alright Paps. I don’t think he wants to take me on a date or anything.” He followed behind his brother.

Papyrus hopped into the driver’s seat, “Nonsense I saw the way you were looking at each other. With my dating expertise you're sure to amaze him.”

Sans walked around the car and got into his seat. “I don’t think you're any more of an expert than me. You went on one date with Frisk when they were a kid.”

“That’s still one more date then you’ve ever been on.” This wasn’t looking like an argument he could win anymore. Papyrus started the car and begun the drive home. He still held his opinion on the matter. They had only just met he probably just gave him, his number so they could talk about the backdrops. Still there was a part of him that hoped it was something more.

**Author's Note:**

> Papyrus the master mood killer! This was a ton of fun to write maybe a bit too much.


End file.
